


A Revelation in the Light of Day

by certain_as_the_sun



Series: How to Train Your God of Mischief [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hiccup Needs A Hug, Late Night Conversations, Loki & Hiccup Friendship, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki is Not Amused, Loki is Toothless, Stoick Jumps to Conclusions, The Avengers (2012) Never Happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 10:00:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6324688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/certain_as_the_sun/pseuds/certain_as_the_sun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Hiccup has a midnight conversation with the God of Lies and makes a startling discovery about his dragon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Revelation in the Light of Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short little fic that takes place immediately after _And In The Spring, I Shed My Skin_ ends. _In The Spring_ was supposed to be a one-shot, but a dozen plot-bunnies for other stories in the same AU and the people who commented or left kudos on it made me decide to continue it. The title doesn't really fit since the Hiccup/Loki conversation happens at night, but it was the first title that came to me and it refused to be changed.

Hiccup wasn't stupid. He knew there was something odd about Toothless. The other dragons were smart, but they weren't as smart as Toothless was. You never got the feeling that Stormfly or Hookfang could understand every word you said. Some words, yes, especially if those words were "flying", "dinner", "sheep", "fish", or "DON'T YOU DARE!", but not every word. Toothless, on the other hand, acted as if he understood everything. And then there were the expressions. Most dragons could manage three expressions: happy, curious, and angry. Not Toothless. Hiccup would never mention it for fear of making his father think the shock of losing his leg had done something to his mind, but he'd seen Toothless _smile_ when Snotlout fell off Hookfang.

So, Hiccup knew there was something odd about Toothless. He'd assumed that Night Furies were just much smarter than the average run-of-the-mill dragon. That was before he woke up in the middle of the night to someone holding a hand over his mouth.

Even by Viking standards that was a rude awakening, and most of the people in the village would have started praying to whatever god might be listening right about now. Hiccup wasn't like most of the people in the village. He was too busy wondering why Toothless hadn't stopped the intruder.

"Don't scream," a voice overhead told him.

He nodded, because what else could he do?

The intruder took their hand away from his mouth. He scrambled back and tried to put as much space as possible between them, painfully aware of how much of a disadvantage he was at, with his prosthetic leaning against the wall. _Where was Toothless_? He was normally so defensive when someone came into Hiccup's room. Stoick's singed beard attested to that.

The intruder stepped forward into the moonlight. Hiccup's weak hope that maybe it was just Snotlout or Tuffnut going back to their old game of "Scare Hiccup Half to Death" evaporated. Whoever the black-haired man in armour was, he was a complete stranger.

"Please don't panic. I wish you no harm."

Hiccup found his voice. "W-w-who are you? Where's Toothless? _What have you done to him_?"

The moment the words were out of his mouth he cringed at how stupid they were. This man didn't even have a sword; how could he have harmed a dragon? The intruder gave him a look that made him feel approximately three inches tall.

"I _am_ Toothless."

...What. Hiccup almost burst out laughing until he realised the intruder was perfectly serious. Okay, then. His dragon was missing and he had a madman in his bedroom. Now would be a really great time to start praying. And then he remembered the story of Fáfnir, and found himself considering the man's claim.

Oblivious to his bemusement, the intruder continued. "I am Loki of Asgard, and I became trapped in the form of a dragon after a magical accident of sorts."

The idea of Toothless turning into a human was relatively feasible. The idea of Toothless being the God of Lies was a little less feasible. In fact, it was so outlandish, so improbable, so bizarre... it was probably true. It explained why Toothless was so intelligent, and it fitted with the pattern of Hiccup's life. Nothing about him could be normal. Other people had perfectly normal dragons that really were dragons, but he had one that was the _God of Lies_ in disguise.

"I thought you had red hair," Hiccup found himself saying. Under other circumstances he would have laughed. He'd been woken by someone claiming to be a _god_ , and all he could think of was that their hair was the wrong colour?

The intru - _Loki_ \- sat down on the edge of the bed and gave him a disdainful look. It was exactly like the look Toothless gave him when he did something stupid, like that time he tried to cook an egg for his dinner and only discovered it was a rotten one after cracking it. That, more than anything else, convinced Hiccup of the truth of this story. "You will find that the stories told of me have little basis in reality. Contrary to what your people believe, I am not blood-brothers with my father, I have no children of any sort and especially not eight-legged horses or giant serpents, Baldr is not Odin's son and I have never tried to kill him, with or without mistletoe, I have not killed Fimafengr - played tricks on him, yes; killed him, no - and I have never _met_ anyone named Sigyn, let alone married them."

Hiccup tried to memorize all that. It wouldn't end well if he forgot and asked about something Loki had already said didn't happen. Of course, this might not end well anyway. If you believed some of the stories, Loki was a trickster who revelled in chaos. If you believed others, he was outright evil and would do horrible things to people for his own amusement. If you accepted Toothless's personality as a reflection of Loki's, he was relatively benign most of the time as long as you showed him respect and didn't make him angry.

Oh gods. He'd _shot him down_. No matter the version or the god, the stories all agreed on one thing. Angering a god never ended well for anyone. Just ask Litr.

Hiccup did the only thing he could think of, and tried to appease the god.

"I'm sorry for shooting you down, and I'm sorry if I offended you by making you wear that saddle but I thought you were a dragon!" he said very quickly and louder than was wise in the early hours of the morning.

"Hiccup?" Stoick shouted from downstairs. "Is there someone up there with you?" A horrified note crept into his voice. "Is Astrid up there?"

He froze. "N-no, Dad, I'm just... talking to Toothless!"

There were some silences that conveyed a person's thoughts better than any amount of words, and this one was distinctly sceptical. Hiccup tried again. "I couldn't sleep because my leg hurts so I'm telling Toothless about our first flight."

Stoick accepted this explanation, though it was doubtful if he believed it. Hiccup foresaw a very awkward conversation in the morning. Assuming he lived until morning, that was.

"You are the worst liar it has ever been my misfortune to encounter," Loki said flatly. Hiccup forbore to comment that everyone would be a bad liar when compared to the God of Lies. "I hold no grudge against you, and I would say losing your leg settles our account. You have not offended me. In fact, you are the only true friend I have had in centuries." A bitter note crept into his voice.

Hiccup reached out and rested his hand on Loki's without thinking. His eyes widened when he realised what he'd done, but the god accepted the contact without protest. They sat in silence for some time, long enough for the moon to disappear and the stars to take its place.

"Are you going back to Asgard now?" Hiccup asked at last. He didn't know what to think about that; he hardly knew Loki, but he knew Toothless, and since Loki was Toothless he did sort of know him... If only other people had had this sort of experience, so he would know what to do and how to cope.

"No. I arrived here under singular circumstances, am unable to return to Asgard, and would not be warmly welcomed if I did. I will stay here, in my dragon form, for the foreseeable future." In the dim starlight, Hiccup saw him turn his head towards the window. "Speaking of which, I should probably resume it now. Your father-" was it his imagination or was there a hint of jealousy in the way he said 'father'? "-will probably come to investigate if we talk any longer, and it would be easier to explain if he did not find me in this form. Go back to sleep now, Hiccup. I will see you tomorrow."

Loki got up, and Hiccup lost sight of him in the darkness of the room away from the window. A minute later Toothless appeared and curled up on the collection of rugs Astrid called his "nest". Hiccup stared at the dragon for a minute.

"Was any of that real, or was I just dreaming?"

Toothless raised his head. Hiccup didn't need to see his face to know he was giving him _that_ look, the "you're an idiot" look.

"Guess it was real then. Goodnight... Loki."

Toothless made a humming sound.

 

* * *

 

The conversation with Stoick the next morning was every bit as awkward as Hiccup feared.

**Author's Note:**

> A few mythological notes:
> 
> Loki was a redhead in Norse mythology.
> 
> Fáfnir was a dwarf until Loki gave him Andvari's cursed ring and gold, and after the curse affected him he turned into a dragon.
> 
> In the Lokasenna, Fimafengr was one of Ægir's servants; Loki killed him and was thrown out of Ægir's hall.
> 
> Litr was a dwarf who got in Thor's way when he was about to consecrate Baldr's funeral pyre, so Thor kicked him into the pyre.


End file.
